who we are
Headquartered in Canary Wharf, London, ARC Ratings is a Pan-European credit rating agency with its main EU office in Lisbon, as well as additional staff strategically placed in numerous European locations, such as Milan, Barcelona and Madrid.
ARC Ratings was established in 2013 by a consortium of five Domestic Credit Rating Agencies operating in Asia, Africa, Europe and South America. With substantial cumulative resources, including over 10,000 clients, more than 600 ratings staff and an average ratings business track record of over 20 years, the objective was to create an international rating agency that aggregates the knowledge and experience of all. This partnership, in addition to giving ARC Ratings a global coverage, granted optimised access to local market knowledge.
Licensed to provide credit ratings across the United Kingdom, Europe and globally, via our partnership of sister CRAs, ARC Ratings is strongly positioned to provide solutions for your global business requirements.
Our UK entity, ARC Ratings (UK) Ltd and our European company, ARC Ratings S.A., are both recognised as an External Credit Assessment Institution (ECAI) by the European Banking Authority, placing us on par with the more established CRAs.
In addition, our UK and European businesses are registered with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) respectively.
what makes us different
COMPETITION
Following the Financial Crisis of 2008/9, several regulatory bodies requested deeper and broader competition from smaller agencies. ARC Ratings’ growth over the past 10 years has been a direct response to this key regulatory ask, providing another independent voice for both issuers and investors.
NETWORK
We are equipped to provide global coverage for our clients via a formal network of sister companies. This capability allows us to cover the global requests of our clients, from Johannesburg to Mumbai and Sau Paulo to Milan; all with speed and nimbleness, manned by seasoned professionals.
COST EFFECTIVE
Traditional Credit Rating Agency charges can be onerous. ARC Ratings’ lean overheads and efficient business processes allow us to price our services competitively. These factors combine to ensure all transactions, regardless of size, are always affordable yet without any compromise in the quality of our analytical approach.
TECHNOLOGY
ARC Ratings’ dynamic approach to modern working methods and client-driven processes is built upon a commitment to enabling you to benefit from cutting edge, industry leading technology. We believe that technology empowers decision making, that data is a key commodity and that bringing these together leads to smarter risk analysis.
how we work
1
We believe in drawing from the expertise derived from a team built on a variety of professional backgrounds. Our foundation is built around experienced analysts, many of whom have joined us from the largest CRAs in the industry. In order to better understand our clients and their requirements, we complement this pool of deeply experienced analysts with professionals from banking backgrounds, all of whom have previously been customers of CRA services. Combining these experiences we bring together industry best practice whilst beginning to address some of the legacy issues the industry has previously faced.
2
With a strong belief in “subject matter expertise”, we encourage our analysts to utilise their diverse sector experiences when assessing risk. With a rapidly changing technology environment, a large volume of available data and increased regulation and controls, we equip and enable our analysts to deliver a clear and transparent approach in line with our methodologies.
3
We demand that our output be honest and fair ratings, which investors, banks, companies and individuals can rely on. In addition to our team of industry experts, we have the highest levels of governance and controls which act as natural safeguards to our ratings. Our Board of Directors are deeply experienced with a wide range of market and industry knowledge to help guide the direction of the company.
4
We ensure maximum exposure and marketing potential for all public ratings we accord via our partnership with Bloomberg. Our continued work with investors and our increased profile, as evidenced by peer-nominated industry awards, along with the necessary ECAI, FCA and ESMA accreditation, provide an economically viable strategy for our clients to attract the key investors.